Wizards-Nets Preview

Posted Apr 10 2016 11:10PM

The Washington Wizards have two steps left to try to avoid their first losing season in three years and the first one shouldn't be too difficult even without John Wall and Bradley Beal.

The Wizards may be without their two best players Monday night when they visit a Nets team that also could be short-handed and is on a season-high eight-game slide.

Both teams are winding down the season, with Washington (39-41) getting eliminated Friday from playoff contention. Coach Randy Wittman then set a new goal for his club.

"I told them when we got eliminated, let's see if we can get to .500," Wittman said. "Guys are going to play that maybe haven't had the opportunities to play. We'll see if they can take advantage of those minutes. Let's take pride."

The coach was referring to how Wall has now missed three straight games with a sore left knee and may not play again this season. Beal left Sunday's 113-98 victory over Charlotte after playing the first 7:43 with a sore pelvis.

Washington improved to 2-1 in this stretch without Wall. Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Ramon Sessions scored 15 with 11 assists Sunday.

"Everybody wants to be in the playoffs and we feel like, from top to bottom our roster, we should be in the playoffs but it's one of those things that we just gotta keep grinding and learning and hopefully next season we can be where we want to be," said Sessions, who has been starting in place of Wall.

Brooklyn top scorer Brook Lopez has sat out the last four games and forward Thaddeus Young the last five as younger players get more minutes for the Nets, who are one defeat shy of reaching 60 for the fifth time in franchise history.

Increased minutes can be expected for Wizards rookie Kelly Oubre Jr., who hasn't played in three of the last five games, and Alan Anderson, who has seen action in just 11 games in an injury-plagued campaign.

Anderson will face the Nets (21-59) for the first time since playing the previous two seasons for them. He turned in some solid play in last year's playoffs for them, including a 23-point effort in a Game 5 first-round loss at Atlanta.

Washington has routed Brooklyn in each of the first two meetings, including Wednesday's 121-103 win in the first game of this stretch without Wall. Beal scored 25 and Sessions had 18 with a season-best 13 assists.

Thomas Robinson had 23 points and 10 boards in that contest as part of a streak of six straight double-doubles that ended in Sunday's 129-105 defeat at Indiana. He scored two points with two rebounds in nine minutes before leaving with a sore right knee.

Robinson was part of a starting five that had a major role in a dismal first quarter in which the Nets were outscored 39-19. Brooklyn trailed by as many as 42.

"I didn't see a lot of fight with our starting group," coach Tony Brown said. "I wish they were prepared. I don't know what to tell you."

Copyright 2016 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Wizards score first 20, pull away late to beat Nets 120-111

By BRIAN MAHONEYPosted Apr 11 2016 10:55PM

NEW YORK (AP) The Washington Wizards had nine baskets and 20 points before the Nets had one of either, and Randy Wittman wished he could've enjoyed the show more.

Problem is, he's seen what happened next.

"You relax, I think," Washington's coach said. "I hate it, I hate those leads. I mean I love them, but I hate them, especially at the start of the game. I mean you can look, it happens all the time, 18-2 and all of sudden end of the first quarter it's a two-point game or something. So I just thought we relaxed a little bit."

The Wizards recovered after blowing their 20-0 lead, as Ramon Sessions had 21 points and 12 assists in a 120-111 victory over Brooklyn on Monday night.

Marcus Thornton scored 19 points as he and Sessions did just fine in replacing injured starting guards John Wall and Bradley Beal. J.J. Hickson had 15 points as Washington put seven players in double figures.

The Wizards looked headed for a blowout victory playing at the quick tempo they prefer. Instead, they needed another big run in the fourth quarter to finally put it away.

"We knew at the end of the game if we continued to play that pace we'd be fine," Sessions said. "We just had to get some stops and we did in that second half."

The Wizards have won two straight since being eliminated from playoff contention and can finish .500 by beating Atlanta in their season finale.

Shane Larkin scored a career-high 20 points and added seven assists and six rebounds for the Nets, who have lost nine in a row and have their first 60-loss season since a franchise-worst 12-70 record in 2009-10.

A night after giving up 129 points in Indiana, the Nets were most defenseless again, allowing Washington to shoot 52 percent from the field.

Marcin Gortat won the opening tip and then made the first basket 23 seconds in to start the early onslaught. Washington scored inside and out, with another basket by Gortat making it 20-0 before the Nets snapped their 0-for-8 start with Chris McCullough's 3-pointer with 7 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. Gortat had Washington's first miss on the next trip, and the Nets steadied themselves and cut it to 34-28 after one.

They took the lead late in the second before Kelly Oubre Jr. took a long pass and beat the buzzer from beyond 30 feet to give Washington a 70-69 edge.

"I didn't think our starters got into the game as quick as we wanted them to and the second group that got out there changed the whole intensity and pace of the game," Nets interim coach Tony Brown said.

It was close straight through the third and the Nets were down only three early in the fourth before a 13-4 run expanded Washington's lead to 116-104.

TIP-INS

Wizards: Wall has a sore right knee and Beal injured his pelvis after playing just eight minutes in Sunday's victory over Charlotte. ... Washington went 3-0 against Brooklyn this season.

Nets: Brooklyn had a season-high 37 fast-break points. ... Forward Thomas Robinson missed the game with a sore right knee. ... Bojan Bogdanovic, the only Nets player to start all three games against Washington, scored 20 points.

SESSIONS' CELEBRATION

Sessions celebrated his 30th birthday with his fourth start of the season. The Wizards are 5-0 when he has seven or more assists and 3-0 when he starts and scores 15 or more points.

NOT LOOKING AHEAD

Brown said the Nets' young players are still being evaluated and was asked if he still believed he was by new general manager Sean Marks.

"I can't answer that. I really can't," Brown said before the game. "We've got two games left. I feel like the situation has been tough from the beginning, I've tried to make the best of it and I'm going to continue to do that the last two games and whatever happens, happens. I'm not worried about my fate with this organization."

UP NEXT

Wizards: Host Atlanta on Wednesday

Nets: Host Toronto on Wednesday.

Copyright 2016 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited